Fire apparatus



2 June 4, 1929. J, BBLAW 1,715,981

FIRE APPARATUS Filed July 16, 1925' In vemor Jacob 15. B/QW.

Ufa/nay Patented June 4, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB 'B. BLAW, 0F ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY; SADIE H. BLAW EXECUTRIX OF SAID JACOB B. BLAW, DECEASED.

FIRE APPARATUS.

Application filed July 16, 1925. Serial No. 43,921.

The object of my invention is to provide a suitable means for supporting and adjusting a hose line and nozzle, and more particularly, for being supported from a ladder whereby the hose nozzle may be quickly adjusted to any height of the ladder when in position against a wall and for directing the stream intothe building against which the ladder is leaning or directing it across the street or in the direction of a fire outside of the building.

My object is further to provide the adjustable nozzle support above referred to with means for quickly attaching and disconnecting it with respect to the rungs of a ladder and provide portability when disconnected; and which devices shall also be capable of adj ustability to a socket post on the hose truck or other vehicle to permit of its use thereon as well as its transfer from the fire hose to the place of confiagration.

With the above and other objects in view, the nature of which will be more fully understood from the description hereinafter, the invention consists in the novel construction of fire apparatus as hereinafter more fully described and defined in the claims.

7 Referring to the drawing: Fig. 1. is a vertical section showing my improved fire apparatus in position against the wall of a building; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of my improved portable adjustable support and clamp for the hose and nozzle; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the adjustable nozzle clamp separated from its socket support; Fig. 4 is a plan View of the socket support with the nozzle clamp removed; and Fig. 5 is an eleva-. tion illustrating my improved portable device supported by a hose truck.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, 2 represents the front of a building and 3 a window therein. 4 illustrates the upper portion of a ladder leaning against the building at a point above the window and 5 are the rungs thereon. Suspended on one of the rungs is the socket support 6, the lower end :of which is strapped or suitably fastened to :another and lower rung whereby the socket support is suspended in an upright position. To the upper end of the socket support is secured the hose and nozzle clamp shown, more particularly, in Figs. 2 and 28 represents the fire hose, the upper end of which is clamped in thahose anslil nzzlegilam and i the fire nozzle which, in the case of Fig. 1, is directed to guide the water stream through the window into the interior of the building.-

Referring more particularly to the construction ofthe portable device, comprising the socket su port and hose and nozzle clamp as illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, attention is directed more especially to the following features of construction: 6 is a tubular socket support and is provided at its upper end with a socket having its walls split, as at 7, to provide spring jaws, the same being surrounded by a clamping collar 9 securedto the socket by a screw 9 and having its two free ends 9 relatively adjustable to or from each other under the action of'a screw clamp 10 provided with a hand wheel 11 for'conveniently rotating it (Figs. 2 and 4). By this mechanism, the rotation of the hand wheel 11 clock' wise will cause the collar 9 to contract about the spring ends of the socket to reduce the internal diameter for the purpose of cla1nping and holding the shank 8 of the adjustable hose and nozzle clamp. Immediately below the socket clamp, I provide a rung clamp 12 which comprises a body part 13 fitting snugly to the tubular socket 6 and secured thereby by transverse plates 16 and provided further with a hinged jaw 14. and a clamping screw bolt and nut 15, the same being hinged to the body part 13 and adapted to swing over into clamping relation with the hinged jaw. This rung clamp is preferably provided so that it opens downwardly to permit easy disconnection for other adjustment, since the loosening of the wing nut will permit the screw bolt to swing down automatically to release the jaw. The lower end of the tubular support 6 is provided with a transverse slot 17 desirably of considerable length, and is provided with a strap 18 which extends through the slot and is provided with a suitable buckle or fastening device, the width of the strap being preferably much less than the length of the slot. When this socket support is adjusted to the rungs of theladder, the parts take the position as indicated in Fig. 1, from which it Wlll be seen that the clamp 12 is fastened about one of the rungs 5 and the lower end of the tubular socket 6 is bound tightly to the next rung below by means .of the strap 18. It is preferable that the tubular socket support 6 shall ased between the ngs Passing Over e of them and under the other, the purpose of which will be hereinafter described.

19 is a yoke shaped castin'gyhaving at its lower parta shank 8 which is adapted to be received in the upper end of the tubular socket and clamped in adjusted positions therein, as before explained. The two upwardly extending arms of the yoke provide a space in which the nozzle clamp body 21 is received, said body being pivoted at 22 to the upper ends of the yoke arms and about which pivots the clamp body 21 may be oscillated for. adjustment: The lower partof the body is provided with a. segment 23 in arc form whosecenteris the axis through the pivots-22i and saidsegment is-guided through a slot in the yoke -19 and isclamped therein byamanually operable screw clamp 24. In thismanner, theb'ody 21.1nay be adjusted to various angles in avertical plane and rigidly positioned ain'such angular adjustment.

25 is a sen'ii-circu-lar clamping. aw being hinged at one end to one side of the body 21 and detachabl y clampedat the: other end to the opposite side of the: body: by means of the hinged boltand wing, nut'deviee 26, the screw bolt.of whiclrishinged to the body and fits into a slotted flange portion on the semi-circular clamp 25:. The body. 2]. constitutes a grooved saddle whose curvature approximates one half of. acircle, the other half of which lsformed by the semisc-ircular'clamp mg aw 2z3 andilsofa diameter approximately right'for clamping theihose', as shown in Fig. 1, or afire nozzle itself, as the case may be. provided with slots 21 in the lower portion of its sides through whichstraps 27 are passed for strapping-the hose or nozzle tightly in position so thatit moves with the saddle for all adjustments thereof.

It will now be understood that when the tubular supper-t6 is positioned upon the rungs of the ladder, as; shown'in Fig; 1, and the hoseand nozzle clampedto the adjustable saddle, the latter may be'positioned by horizontal adjustmentzas well'as adjustmen t'in a vertical plane to direct 'the'water stream in any direction desired: The adjustment ina vertical plane may be: maintained by the clamping screw 24', whereas the: adj ustmen-t'in a horizontal'plane maybe maintained by the clampingsoclret formedzbythe' part 7 and by the operationtof the collar-9 and clamping screw 10.

In respect to the arrangementof the tubular support 6' under one rung. and over the next rung, as shown in Fig. 1; itis pointed :out that when the stream of wateris on and especially where high pressure is used;- the rea-ction is such that it wouldtend'to force the yoke and its supportbackward andconsequently, if the tubular supportis arranged at its upper end under the rung, it is directly resisted against. a backward movement.

The body or saddle portion 2']. is

However, as the connection with the rung by the clamp 12 acts as a hinge, it is necessary to hold the lower part ofthe tubular support 6 against movement in the opposite direction and for that reason the lower part of the tubular support is placed over and-in front of the next lower rung and fastened to it by the strap 18. In this way, both of the rungs directly receive the thrust of the tubular support and obviate the necessity of depending upon the straporrupon the clamping jaw 14; for resisting: the thrust due to the back thrust of the. nozzle.

If,.instead of the water stream being required to pass in at the window 3, it. was required that it shall be projected upon a building across the streetfacing the building 2, then and in tlltt event, the socketclamp 7 may be-loosened and the nozzle turned in the reverse direction. Ordinarily, however, the tubular support with its nozzleclainp would be reversed to lit the two rrm'gsof the ladder with the upper part'extendinptin front of the upper rungv and the lower part backof thelower rung, and the hose wouldbearranged so as to swing under the ladder instead of in front of it,.as-shown. This. adjustment would be substantially equivalent to turning, the ladder over so that the nozzle points in the opposite direction ,to thatshown in Fig. 1.

It will be understood that the adjustable" tubular support and the hose and nozzle clamp attached thereto is relatively. light-and easily portable, and would be shifted for: ad-' justmentto any portion of the ladderwhich was found convenientforrthe duty to be performed.

In Fig. 5, I have indicated at 30 ahose truck which may be of any suitable construction. The truckis provided with ann n'i'ght socket 3 1. which has a tubular aperture"somewhat larger than the outside diameter of thetubular support 6, and furthermore, is provided with aclampingmeans 32, said parts being utilized, if necessary, .to sustain the-tubular support inupright position if it is. desired to utilizethe truck by throwing stream atsome place where a ladder is-not'convenient or cannot be used. In this case, the strap 18 would be removed and the tubular support 6 would be inserted and clamped rigidly to the fixed tuluilar socket 231; If desired, one of these devices may be permanentlyassociated with the hose truck or other vehicle.

While I have referred to the part 6 as a tubular support, this has been because ordinarily this part of the apparatus Would be formed fronr a length of tubing, but'L' do not limit myself to the support being tubular throughout, as it would be suliioient that" the socket end-Was made' tubular and the rest of the structure made solid. However, asthis would require either a small. rod of equal weight to that of the tube or of large solid rod of an objectionable heavy weight, it is preferable that the support be made of a tubular structure throughout to secure strength and lightness.

It is also to be understood that while I prefer the elongated support to have a socket at its upper end to receive the shank of the hose and nozzle support with clamping means upon the elongated support for clamping the shank in the socket, I do not restrict myself to this arrangement as the parts may be reversed or otherwise formed at the option of the constructor without changing the spirit of the invention.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and useful construction which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable, and while I have in the present instance shown and described the preferred embodiment thereof which has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that I do not restrict myself to the details, as the same are susceptible of modification in Various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

v Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a fire apparatus, an adjustable hose and nozzle clamp adapted for use with a ladder, consisting of an elongated unitary support having a socket in its upper end, clamping means at the upper part of the support below and near said socket for direct attachment to one rung of the ladder, and separate adjustable means at the lower part of the unitary part and distant from the socket and clamping means for fastening the unitary support to a lower rung of the ladder,'a yoke having a shank adjustably fitting into the socket end of the support whereby it is supported close to the clamping means, means for clamping the yoke in various positions of adjustment in the socket of the body, and a clamp for the hose and nozzle adjustably hinged to the yoke and having means for holding it in adjusted positions upon the yoke.

2. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the means for fastening the lower end of the support to the lower rung consists of an elongated transvere slot through the lower part of the support, and a strap and buckle extending through the slot and of a width less than the length of the slot so that it may be adjusted vertically to different positions.

3. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the means for clamping the yoke shank in the upper or socket end of the support consists of a tubular socket formed on the support and split longitudinally and having about it a spring collar having free ends, and a clamping screw extending through the freeends of the 'collar for drawing them together to provide a clamping action upon the split portion of the socket.

4. A fire apparatus, which consists of an elongated support having at its upper end a socket provided with clamping means and also having near said socket and at one side of the elongated support an adjustable clamp comprising a body part and a hinged clamp ing jaw pivoted thereto with means for looking the jaw in closed relation and having at its lower end a transverse slot and strap extending therethrough and provided with a buckle, combined with a universally adjustable clamping means for the hose and nozzle provided with a shank at its lower part adapt= ed to fit into the clamping socket at the upper 7 end of the elongated support.

5. In a fire apparatus, an adjustable hose and nozzle clamp adapted for use with a ladder, consisting of an elongated unitary support having a socket in its upper end, clamping means near said end for direct attachment to one rung of the ladder, and adjustable means at its lower part for fastening the same to a lower rung of the ladder, a yoke having a shank adjustably fitting into the socket end of the body whereby it is supported close to the clamping means, means for clamping the yoke in various positions of adjustment in the socket of the body, and a clamp for the hose and nozzle adjustably hinged to the yoke and having means for holding it in adjusted positions upon the yoke, and wherein the means for fastening the lower end of the support to the lower rung consists of an elongated transverse slot through the lower part of the support, and a strap and buckle extending through the slot and of a width less than the length of the slot so that it may be adjusted vertically to different positions.

In testimony of which invention, I hereunto set my hand.

JACOB B. BLAVV. 

